Three Tips on Public Speaking
Become a Better Communicator and an Effective Public Speaker
Dec 21, 2007
Do you want to be a better communicator? Are you looking for ways to improve your public speaking skills or perhaps to conquer your fear of public speaking? No matter what type of public speaking you engage in (or are about to engage in), these public speaking tips will help you become a more effective communicator.
1. Know Your Audience
The best way to establish rapport with your audience is to KNOW them, and then cultivate a relationship with them based on that knowledge.
One of the best ways to do this is to interview attendees in advance of your speech. If possible, get a few names and phone numbers or email addresses of some of the folks who will be in your audience. Contact them. Tell them who you are, and ask if you can talk over with them their situation and their needs. This information will give you a very good "lay of the land."
If this is not really possible, then do as much research as you can by thoroughly questioning the person who is booking you and/or learning about the organization via the Internet, library, past employees, customers, etc.
In all this, your objective is to put yourself in your audience's position. If you can do that, you are on your way to bulding rapport with them.
2. Be Prepared
One of the surest ways to make yourself more confident before a presentation is to be thoroughly prepared. Do your homework. Deepen your knowledge about the topic at hand, so much that you speak only a portion of what you actually know.
It's much better to be an expert sharing only a portion of your knowledge and wisdom, than it is to be a neophyte desperately trying to "wing" it and fill the time with more knowledge than you really have.
Author David McCullough, for instance, said that he left enough material out of his bestselling (and Pulitzer winning) John Adams biography that he could have written a second book on Adams and his family without any further research. That's preparation!
3. Radiate Your Passion
The great political orator William Jennings Bryan once defined eloquence as "thought on fire." To become a truly confident and effective speaker, you want to put yourself on fire for what you believe in!
Admittedly, this is easier if you're delivering a sermon, Sunday School lesson, or political speech at a fundraiser. Nevertheless, even if you're just recommending a new sales strategy for parking meters, be passionate about it!
Think about the great speakers of our past and present. They all seem to have "conviction" or "passion" as common qualities.
Sure, there may be some butterflies in the stomach or nervousness over appearance. But these things are completely forgotten if and when you can lose yourself in your subject matter!
If there's anyone out there who struggles with the fear of speaking, take heart! Just get to know the audience, prepare thoroughly, and then radiate your passion - your passion both for the best interests of your audience as well as for the topic upon which you are speaking. Good luck!
